Beautiful Sounds
by RunBabyRun8312
Summary: It was the anniversary of what was quite possibly the worst day of their lives. One couldn't remember and the other was trying their hardest to forget. Sometimes, it's the bad things that bring you together, though.


Taz knocked on his door, prepared for the worst. If Up needed to be soft today, she wouldn't say anything. She understood that on days like these you needed to break down a little. If he cried, Taz would let him. If he told her to leave, Taz would turn and walk away. If he wanted her to stay, Taz would be there as long as he needed her. It was the least she could do, really. If it weren't for Up, she wouldn't even be alive. He had saved her life countless times without a thought, so she would always be there for him on this day without a thought.

The door swung open. There stood Up, not looking distraught or upset, but smiling brightly down at her.

"Hey, Taz," he said happily, "I was just gonna come find you and see if you wanted to hang out. You know, mess with some ensigns or something."

Taz looked at him, her frown deepening.

Up's face fell. "Taz, what's wrong?"

"'_What's wrong?'_" she repeated, "Up, don't jou know what today is?"

"…Saturday?"

"Oh, _¡dios muerto mio!_" Taz screamed, "I can't believe jou!"

She turned and began marching down the hall, clenching her fists. Up stood there completely bewildered. What had just happened? The room next door opened. "Female troubles, commander?" Up ignored the guy and went to follow Taz, slamming the door behind him. Damn that girl. They had just gotten back to being the kick-ass team that they used to be and now she was ruining it by yelling for reasons unknown to him. He knew that he should just leave it and wait for her to come apologize to him, but Up couldn't do that. For one thing, he knew that an angry Taz was a danger to the entire starship, but the bigger motivation for going after her was that he loved Taz and couldn't stand the fact that he had upset her.

Up didn't knock when he arrived at her room. His level of clearance unlocked almost every door, so he swiped his ID and went right inside. The room was in shambles. Apparently Taz had thrown a fit and things ended up strewn all over. A pillow had knife marks in it and the floor was covered in stuffing. Taz's communicator lay broken with wires sticking out. It wasn't the first one of those that she had broken, though. Up looked at his feet to see something red sticking out from under his boot; her bandana. A few feet away was a picture frame. Shattered glass laid on top of a photograph of Taz and Up from Taz's academy graduation day. Her things were everywhere, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Deadgoddamnit, Taz," Up growled as he tossed the frame and bandana onto her bed, which was missing its comforter.

He turned to leave and then he heard something. A quick, shallow intake of breath came from the other side of the bed where he couldn't see. It was so soft that Up thought maybe he had imagined it, but went over to look anyway. The comforted was in a heap, but he noticed that it moved slightly every few seconds. Up grabbed it and pulled, revealing Taz curled into a ball with puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks. Taz had hidden when she heard him coming, not wanting to face him after the immature tantrum she had thrown. She didn't look at him, just snatched the navy blue comforter back and wrapped it around herself. She looked so small with the mass of fabric cocooning her, showing nothing but her head. The image reminded Up of a much younger Taz, a frightened, broken girl that he had met long ago, and his anger instantly melted. He sat beside her, leaning against her bed, but she still wouldn't look at him.

"Taz, what's the matter? What did I do?"

She didn't answer.

"Come on," Up sighed, "I can't make this better if you don't tell me what's wrong. I know today isn't your birthday, so I don't see why you're so upset."

"It's the day, Up. The day I thought I lost jou. It's been three years," Taz whispered, her voice hollow and her eyes fixed on her lap.

Now it was Up's turn to be silent as realization dawned on him. It _was_ the anniversary of his injury.

"Well, jou should be glad that jou don't remember."

"I remember a few moments, like, flashes or something. I see them when I sleep. There's you being cornered by robots, and Optimus Prime's belly opening, the I see you from above and you're screaming my name. That's all I remember from that day."

Taz began trembling."I remember everything. I saw jour body, Up. I saw jou die."

Tears began flowing from her eyes. Up wrapped an arm around her back, pulling her against his side. Taz finally turned her head and looked at him through blurry eyes. She was jealous of his lack of memory. He had snapshots of the day, but Taz constantly had images of the entire scene playing through her head, whether she was asleep or awake. Deadgod, here they came again. The whirring of the buzz saw, not being able to do anything, and the blood, all that damn blood. Taz's stomach churned and her heart screamed. She couldn't contain it anymore. A loud sob left her mouth and wracked her body. It felt so good to just let it all out. Up was taken aback for a moment. He was used to only seeing Taz cry on her birthday and even then it wasn't as much as this. Soon, the bundle of blanket and girl were in his lap, held tightly in his strong arms.

"This is jour day, Up? Why am I the one crying like a baby?"

"Shh, Taz," Up said softly, "I'm here. I'm okay. _We're_ okay."

Neither knew how much time had passed, but they each knew something during that moment. Up knew that no other person ever had, or ever would, fit in his arms as perfectly as the girl in them now did. Taz knew that when she was apart from this man, she never felt as content as when he was beside her. Both knew that they were in love with the other. Taz, still wrapped in her comforter, shifted her head, moving it from the crook of Up's neck to the center of his chest. At this spot, she could hear both the whirring of his mechanics and the constant beating of his heart. It was the most beautiful thing that Taz had ever heard. The sound lulled her to sleep. Before she drifted off, four words, barely audible, escaped her lips.

"I love jou, Up."

It was the most beautiful thing that Up had ever heard.


End file.
